Car-brake



(No Model.)

B. G. WOODWARD.

GAR BRAKE.

No. 569,312. Patented 001;. 13, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIcE.

ROBERT G. IVOODIVARD, OF ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,312, dated October 13, 1896.

Application filed July 20, 1896.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT G.WooI wARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alameda, county of Alameda, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Oar-v Brakes; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to improvements in car-brakes, and is especially adapted for use upon street-railway and other cars of all descriptions.

It consists, essentially, in the combination of brakes, which are adapted to be applied to all of the wheels of the car, and a shoe or shoes suspended slightly above the rail, with suitable connections by which the shoe may be depressed and by frictional contact drawn backward in either direction and by such movement apply the brakes to all the wheels.

It consists also in details of construction which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view showing a car-truck with my invention applied. Fig. 2 is a skeleton perspective view of the track-shoe and the connected mechanism. Fig. 3, a b 0, show different positions of the take-up mechanism for the slack of the connecting chains or parts.

A is a truck of any desired construction, having the bearing-wheels B, and O O are brake-shoes carried upon brake-beams, so as to be applied upon opposite sides of the two pairs of wheels B, as shown.

The brake-beams D I) are normally drawn backward, so as to prevent the brake-shoes from pressing upon the wheels, by springs E. These brake-beams are connected with bars .I J by rods F, extending from the outside of one beam to the outside of the other.

G is a lever connected bya link II with the brake-beam D, which carries one set of brake shoes 0, and it is connected by another link, I, with a bar J. This bar extends across and is fixed to the connecting-rods F.

The two links II and I are so situated with relation to each other that one acts as the bearing or fulcrum against which the other one operates, so that when the lever G is Serial No. 599,824. (No model.)

moved toward the left by means of the rod or connection K, which leads to the brakelever, the link II will force the brake-beam D and the brake-shoe C, carried by it, against the wheels B, while the corresponding pull upon the link I and the bar J acts through the rods F upon the brake-beam D and the shoe 0 at the opposite end of the truck and applies these brakes. To this class of brake my invention is applied in the present illustration. I It consists of a shoe L, which is attached to the under side of' a bar M, so that the shoe is supported directly above the line of the track. The opposite end of this bar is pivoted, as shown at N, to a support or frame 0, which is secured to the truokframe. A vertical bar P is also connected with the shoe L, as shown, extending upward, and its upper end is adjustably connected with an arm Q, which projects from a horizontal rocking shaft R. This shaft extends across from side to side of the truck-frame and is suitably journaled in supports S,which are also secured to the truck-frame.

Arms T extend upwardly and downwardly from the rocking shaft R and are connected by rods U with the hand-levers V at opposite ends of the car, so that when either of the latter are drawn back by the brakeman or operator they act, through the rods U and arms T, to rotate the shaft R upon its axis. This acts, through the arm Q and its connections with the vertical bar P, to press the shoe Ii down upon the track, thereby creating a friction between the shoe and the track, and the frictional pressure causes the shoe toibe dragged backward from thedirection in which the car is proceeding. The elasticity of the arm M allows it to be thus depressed upon the track.

The arm M is connected by rods IV, extending in each direction, with the levers Y Y at opposite ends of the car.

It will be seen that if the car is moving toward the left and the shoe L is depressed so as to form contact with the track the friction will draw the shoe toward the right, and acting through the rod \V and upon the lever Y it will, through the links H and I, act to move the brake-beams D and D so as to force their respective shoes 0 and 0 against the oppositesides of the car-wheels, thus applying the brakes instantly and effectively. If the car is moving in the opposite direction or toward the right, the pull upon the rod IV at that side of the arm M will act upon an arm Y, which is fulcrumed at Y and connected with the links I and H on that side, so as to correspondingly move the brake-beam D and its shoes and the bar J, which acts through the rods F to apply the shoes upon the left wheels of the truck. The construction is such that the operation is equally effective whichever direction the car may be moving.

Any adjustment for the movement of a shoe may be made by means of the vertical screw-shaft Q and adjusting-nuts and also by means of holes made in the arm Q, which allows the screw-shaft Q to be moved nearer to or farther from the rocking shaft R.

In order to take up any lost motion or slack of the various connections, I haveshown a link (I, pivoted to the lower end of the brakelever V. To the lower end of this link is connected the rod U, through which power is applied to rotate the shaft R when the brakelever V is moved. The upper end of the link (Z is so formed above its pivot-pin'that the first. movement of the lever brings this end into contact with the lug or projection f, and

the result of this motion is to turn the link cl from the position shown in a, Fig. 3, to the position shown in Z), Fig. 3. This movement takes up all the slack of the parts and brings the shoe L in contact with the track, so that a further movement of the lever V, as shown in Fig. 3, will bring the entirepressure of the operator on the track-shoe.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a railway-car brake, a shoe or shoes suspended above the rail, a connection whereby it may be depressed by the operator into frictional contact with the rail whereby it is moved backward from the direction in which the car is traveling, wheehbrakes adapted to press upon opposite sides of all of the wheels upon which the caris carried, and an intermediate mechanism whereby the movement of the shoe acts to draw both sets of brakes simultaneously against the wheels.

2. In a railway-car brake, a shoe or shoes suspended above the rail,'a rocking bar j ournaled across the car and connected with the shoe so that the rocking of the bar will depress the shoe upon the track, connections between the rocking bar and a hand-lever whereby the shoe is depressed into contact with the track and moved backwardly from the direction of travel of the car, rods connecting the shoe with the intermediate brakebeam connections at opposite ends whereby both sets of brake-shoes are simultaneously applied to the car-wheel.

3. In a railway-car brake, a shoe suspended above the rail, a rocking bar j onrnaled across the truck-frame with which the shoe is connected, connections between the rocking bar and the hand-lever whereby the shoe maybe depressed into contact with the track, connections between the track-shoe and the brake-beams, intermediate connections between the track-shoe and the rocking bar and means whereby said intermediate connections are vertically adjusted.

4. In a railway-car brake, a shoe, a rocking bar journa-led across the truck -frame from which the shoe is suspended in line above the track, a horizontally-disposed arm fulcrnmed at one side of the truck and having the other connected with the shoe, mechanism connectingthe rocking barwith the hand brake-lever whereby the bar may be tilted so as to force the shoe into contact with the track, and connections between the shoe and the brake beams whereby the backward movement of the shoe caused by the frictional contact with the track will apply the brakes simultaneously to both sets of wheels.

5. In a railway-car brake, a vertically-movable shoe suspended above the track, a rocking shaft journaled across the truck-frame and so connected with the shoe that the latter is depressed into contact with the track by the rocking of the bar, connections between the shoe and the brake-beams, a connection between the rocking bar and the hand brakelever and an intermediate take-up link (I whereby the lost motion is taken up and the shoe depressed into contact with the track by the first movement of the hand-lever.

6. In a railway-car brake, the Verticallymovable shoe suspended above the track, a rocking shaft journaled across the truckframe and so connected with the shoe that the latter is depressed into contact with the track by the rocking of the bar, connections between the shoe and the brake-beams, a hand-lever, a link f ulcrnmed to the lower end thereof, a connection from the link to the shaft at one side of the fulcrum-point of the former, and a log against which the opposite end of the link contacts when the first movement of the lever is made, whereby the link is caused to swing about its fulcrum-point and move the end with which the rockingshaft connection is made so as to take up lost or slack motion of the parts.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ROBERT G. \VOODIVARD. lVitnesses S. H. NoURsE, GEO. H. STRoUos.

IIO 

